Wednesday, February 08, 2017

What Do We Know?

Where were you during the Great Bowling Green Massacre? It was some time ago, back in 2011. Kellyanne Conway remembers: “I bet it’s brand-new information to people, that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered.” How can this be? The American Media is crazy nuts for murderous rampages, and the American Public tends to eat it up with a spoon, since they want to get every bloody drop. Mark Wahlberg will most likely be starring in the film version, right? Except it never happened. The "massacre" was not exactly a "massacre." It was an arrest. Two Iraqi refugees who were arrested in 2011 in Bowling Green, Kentucky for plotting to send weapons and money back to Iraq. The two men admitted to attacking U.S. troops in Iraq but had not executed or plotted any attacks in the United States. The discovery of the two men led to a six-month pause in processing refugee applications, a new background check system for visa applications and a slowing of Special Immigrant Visas, but there was never a total ban on Iraqi travelers or refugees. No massacre. No six month ban on refugees. This was the way the Twit administration has chosen to rationalize their "territorial ban" on a group of Muslim nations. The current and ongoing number of deaths attributed from radicalized terrorists from those seven nations here in the United States is zero. Which reminds me of a joke: Kellyanne Conway is standing out on the South Lawn of the White House, waving her arms and making gurgling noises. A concerned Anderson Cooper approaches her carefully and asks, "Ms. Conway? Are you alright?"At first there is no response, since Anderson Cooper comes from CNN. The gurgling continues."Ms. Conway, are you okay."Still flapping her arms, Kellyanne hisses, "Of course I'm okay.""So what exactly are you doing."Between gurgles, "I'm keeping the alligators away.""Surely you know that there are no alligators in Washington D.C.," asserts the indefatigable Anderson Cooper. Still flapping, the special counsel to the President of the United States replies, "See how well it's working?"And so it goes. Alternatively speaking.